Weekend picks for book lovers

Jun. 22, 2013
|

Neil Gaiman's newest novel, 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane,' is a weekend book pick.

by USA TODAY, USATODAY

by USA TODAY, USATODAY

What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers include Neil Gaiman's fantastic (in more ways than one) new novel, and a rollicking history of Britain's nastiest kings.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman; William Morrow, 142 pp.; fiction

In his first adult novel in eight years, Neil Gaiman dives into the deep end of childhood memories lost and nightmares found.

In this mix of supernatural Twilight Zone themes and down-home Little House on the Prairie style, a middle-aged man is on the way to his sister's place after a funeral, but is inexplicably drawn to the rural locale where he grew up in Sussex, England.

The man (never named) narrates a story from 40 years earlier, when he was 7 and a drifter stole the family car, committing suicide. The incident brings the boy closer to the neighbor girl from down the lane, Lettie Hempstock.

Lettie, an older soul than she appears, gives the boy a peek at a somewhere that she and her relatives are tuned into that's missed by the rest of the world. She tells him to hold her hand on their journey, he falters, and something very dark comes back with him.

USA TODAY says *** ¬Ĺ. "Worthy of a sleepless night‚?¶ Gaiman is a master of creating worlds just a step to the left of our own."

The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones; Viking, 510 pp.; non-fiction

A history of the bloody, brutal dynasty that ruled England from 1154-1399.

USA TODAY says ****. "British historian Dan Jones has produced a rollicking, compelling book about a rollicking, compelling dynasty."

Big Brother by Lionel Shriver; Harper, 373 pp.; fiction

When Pandora's revered jazz musician brother Edison arrives for a prolonged visit to Iowa ‚?? all shocking 386 pounds of him ‚?? she and her uptight hubby and two stepkids have to deal with the, ahem, elephant in the room.

In this third novel featuring Mississippi Sheriff Quinn Colson, the lawman is haunted by memories of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

USA TODAY says * * * ¬Ĺ. "Ace Atkins‚?¶ scores again."

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown; Viking, 370 pp.; non-fiction

Tells the story of the legendary eight-man rowing crew from the University of Washington that captured the gold at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, where Hitler mounted a PR blitz for the rise of the Third Reich.